


I'm Just a Kid (and Life is A Nightmare)

by discowowing



Series: calling me home [1]
Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Gen, JL adventures in babysitting, Justice League (DCU) as Family, Team as Family, Wally West Whump, Wally just wants to go home
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:27:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25738018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/discowowing/pseuds/discowowing
Summary: During a battle with Morgan le Fey, Flash gets hit with a de-aging spell! The Justice League finds out how much of a handful 10 year old speedsters can be. Wally is just trying to figure out where exactly his uncle is...and who are these people trying to impersonate the Justice League?
Relationships: Artemis Crock/Wally West, Barry Allen & Wally West
Series: calling me home [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1932238
Comments: 64
Kudos: 233





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A new story?! While I still have other un-updated WIPs?! It's more likely than you think! This actually, is also a WIP that I wrote a couple years ago, and just found on my computer. I decided, eh, what the heck? And cleaned it up and posted. It strays slightly from YJ cannon (i.e., Wally lives w/ Barry and Iris), and I have other headcannons in my brain that probably make sense to me and, like, no one else, so if you are confused about things, feel free to ask me to clarify, lol. Enjoy!

It was missions like these that Wally wished he was still on a covert-ops team of relatively unknown, mostly superpowered proteges, and _not_ one of the founders of a league of simultaneously idolized and targeted adult superheroes.

Wally skidded to a stop on the street, having just narrowly avoided decapitation via flying car. Morgan le Fey turned her attention to him, and stretched her hand out to shoot some sort of electricity magic in his direction. The speedster was quick to dodge her attacks, ducking under, and flipping over the spells cast his way in a surprisingly impressive show of acrobatics.

_Dick would be proud._

Wally sighed, and shook the thought out of his head, forcing himself to focus on the battle in front of him. He could be bitter and homesick later; right now, Hawkgirl, Wonder Woman, and Superman needed his help.

He watched as Shayera flew towards Morgana, mace at the ready and a battle cry on her lips. Unfortunately, the Thanagarian was intercepted by a bolt of yellow magic, sending her flying into Diana who was attacking from the opposite side. Shayera’s momentum carried both women through the air and into the side of a brick building, then to the ground, creating two large craters in the building’s wall, and in the concrete where they landed.

Superman took this opportunity to attack, grabbing the sorceress by the collar and yanking her to the ground. Morgana was injured, Wally noticed, but not yet unconscious; the battle was not over. Morgana groaned and locked her glare onto the Kryptonian. Her right arm shot out faster than Wally had expected, and latched onto Superman’s ankle. Before the hero could react, some sort of dark purple energy snaked it way up Clark’s legs and body in tendrils. He froze, as if he were paralyzed, which Wally could safely assume that he was.

Turning his attention away from Superman, the speedster noticed that Morgana had made her way back to her feet, and was now using both her hands to control the magic holdiing the Kryptonian in place. Realizing that she was no longer paying attention to anyone but Superman, Wally smirked.

 _This one’s for you, Aunt Dinah,_ the Flash thought as he squared himself towards Morgana. With a quick grin, Wally took off towards the sorceress, vaulting off her shoulders, over her head, and twisting in the air to land in a crouch, facing her. Before she could even process what he had done, Wally swept out his leg, kicking Morgana’s feet out from under her. The woman landed heavily on her back, knocking the breath out of her. Her head hit the pavement hard, rendering her dazed and momentarily confused.

“Nice move, Flash,” Wally heard a voice say behind him. He turned to see Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman making their way towards him. The Thanagarian stopped in front of him, while Diana continued towards Morgana, unraveling her lasso as she did so.

“Where’d you learn that?” Shayera asked him. Flash shrugged.

“Just picked it up, I guess,” He told her. _Yeah, if you consider countless hours of training ‘picking it up’._ “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I’m fine, though I’ll admit, I’m a little worried about Superman. If it’s not some sort of kryptonite taking him down in a fight, it’s some pretty brutal magic.” Shayera peered over Flash’s shoulder to get a look at the Kryptonian, and Wally turned to follow her gaze. Clark was rolling his shoulders out and shaking his head, as if trying to expel any excess magic.

“Hey Supes,” Wally called out, “You good?”

Superman looked at the duo observing him and nodded, giving them a warm smile. “I’m okay.”

Wally flashed him a toothy grin and a double thumbs up before turning back to his friend, “See? All good.”

Shayera rolled her eyes in response and raised her hand to her ear to flip on her comm.

“J’onn? Yes, we’re all good here. We have Morgana in custody, does Batman want us to-” Hawkgirl’s conversation was interrupted by two shouts of surprise coming from behind the Flash.

Wally whipped his head around to see what was wrong. His eyes widened when he saw Morgana freeing herself from Diana’s lasso, both the Amazon and the Kryptonian lying still on the ground. Before either Wally or Shayera could react, Morgana froze them with the same spell she had used on Superman just minutes prior.

“You know, I’ve never really forgiven the League for what happened to my son,” Morgana told the two as she made her way towards them.

“You helped…take him…down,” Wally grit out, barely able to move his jaw to speak. Morgana glared at him.

“I enlisted the help of some of the Leaguers to get my son back in control, yes,” She told Flash, “But I never intended for the spell I placed on him all those years ago to be broken. I never intended for my son to suffer the way he is now due to your friends’ incompetence.”

Morgana paused for a moment as if an idea had just occurred, before she turned attention back to her hostages, an evil smirk gracing her features.

“Perhaps your League would like to know what it is like to watch a loved one suffer,” She hummed, inching her way even closer to the Flash, “You are well liked among the League, hmm?”

“Eh, I wouldn’t say _well_ liked, exactly, but sure we can go with that,” Wally snarked at the woman. She snarled at him and grabbed his jaw, not allowing him to look anywhere but her face.

“You think you are funny, do you?”

Wally shrugged-or at least tried to, “I think I’m hilarious.”

Morgana shoved his face away from her in disgust. “How do they put up with you? You act like a child.”

Wally laughed, “You think _I_ act like a child? You should see my best friend on a sugar rush!”

Morgana’s glare intensified, and she waited a moment before she spoke, “You act like a child, and judge someone for actions made as a child, so let’s see how well you fare as an actual child. Perhaps it will teach you, all of you, a lesson.”

A shock of blinding white light was shot in Wally’s direction. The pain was searing hot, sending that pins and needles feeling you get when a limb falls asleep throughout Wally’s entire body. Images and memories of his past flashed through his head as the burning sensation grew.

_“What like a bunch of super friends?”_

_“I was thinking more like a ‘Justice League’._

_“Do you have any idea how corny that sounds?”_

_“Everything is so…different. My friends either don’t exist, or don’t know me. There are no speedsters and hell, I don’t even think Wally West exists. Well, I guess he does now. And hey, I always did want to be the Flash when I grew up.”_

_“Aw, man! Artemis is_ so _gonna kill me for this! And don’t even get me started on Aunt Iris!”_

_“Kid!”_

_“Just tell them, okay?”_

_“KID!”_

_“Ah, Paris. The ever-romantic City of Lights. We are_ so _coming back here, babe. You know, when there isn’t a world to save.”_

_“There will always be a world to save! Now drop me, and go.”_

_“C’mon, enjoy the moment, my friend. You’ve earned it.”_

_“The cave was…just a place! Worth sacrificing if it helps us stop the invasion! I’m sorry about all your souvenirs.”_

_“I don’t care about that junk! I’m worried about Artemis! Terrified for her!”_

_“Heey, cuz, what are those?”_

_“Wha- you mean you’ve never had a Chicken Whizzee before?”_

_“They don’t exist in the future…”_

_“Sit. Tonight, Bart, we dine like kings.”_

_“Careful, kid. If you are what you say you are, revealing too much about the future could crash the whole timestream.”_

_“Wally? What are you-”_

_“Nightwing called. Thought I might’ve been some help with this mess.”_

_“You’re Wally West! My first cousin once removed!”_

_“Key word being_ removed. _”_

_“You’re leaving, aren’t you.”_

_“Yeah. We both agreed that after everything that happened with Garth and Kaldur and Tula…I just…I can’t lose her, man.”_

_“Babe, I got my letter! I’m in!”_

_“What? Me too!”_

_“Woohoo! Stanford, here we come!”_

Faster and faster the memories came, so quick Wally almost couldn’t even process them.

_“Should’ve done this a long time ago.”_

_“No kidding.”_

_“I’m amazed we’re still alive.”_

_“It’s ‘cause they’re being controlled. They’re limited by whoever’s pulling their strings. The very thing putting us in danger is the only thing giving us a chance.”_

_“I can’t have my best pal questioning my objectivity.”_

_“Dude, that’s what a best pal is for.”_

_“Can anyone tell me what he did wrong?”_

_“Ooh! Ooh! Hit on teacher and got served?”_

_“Dude!”_

_“Careful, Superboy, they’re hot!”_

_“Not as hot as you, babe.”_

_“Thanks, Wally? That’s sweet.”_

_“Not as sweet as you, sugar.”_

_"Find your own little spitfire. One who won't let you get away with nothin'."_

_“Cool! Souvenir!”_

_“Why should we let them tell us what to do? It’s simple. Get on board, or get out of the way.”_

_"Wait, are you going to Cadmus? Because if you're goin', I'm goin'."_

_"Just like that? We're a team on a mission?"_

_"We didn't come for a playdate."_

_“Roy! Dick’s being…a dick!_

_“Roy! Wally’s cursing at a small child!”_

_“Oh, so now you’re okay with being short? Not cool, dude.”_

_“I’m not short! I’m vertically challenged!”_

_“Both of you shut the hell up before I shove you out of the car and leave you in the middle of the highway!”_

_“Guys, this is Kid Flash. Kid, meet the Justice League.”_

_“…COOL!”_

And all at once, it stopped.

The white light that had engulfed him slowly began to fade to black as the hot, yet numbing feeling dissipated. The last thing Wally heard before he was engulfed in total darkness was vaguely familiar voices calling for the Flash.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shayera, Superman, and Wonder Woman deal with the immediate aftermath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the fastest I have ever updated a story on any account on any website. Nice. Also, apparently, this type of story is a more common idea to write than I realized. Neat!

Shayera watched in horror as Morgana engulfed Flash with a streak of blinding white light. She heard the speedster gasp, and wished she wasn’t still magically frozen in place so she could swoop in and get him the hell out. If Wally was hurt after all of this, Shayera was going to wreck the sorceress. Scratch that, she was going after Morgana anyway. 

Behind Morgana, she could see Wonder Woman and Superman beginning to stir from where the sorceress had taken them down a few minutes prior. Both heroes had yet to notice what was going on in front of them. Shayera grit her teeth and tried to struggle in her magical bonds only to find she still couldn’t budge an inch. 

Shayera heard Wally groan once again. She opened her mouth to let him know she was there, and that it would all be okay, but before she could say anything, the light began to fade. She couldn’t turn her head to see the speedster, so she had to rely on her peripheral vision. What she could see made her heart drop into her stomach. 

“ _FLASH!”_ Shayera screamed, struggling harder to get to him. She heard both Superman and Diana yelling out for him as well, but she was barely able to process their voices.

Where the Flash stood only moments ago, was just his suit in a pile on the ground. He was _gone_ . Her little brother had disappeared into thin air _again_. She really was going to kill Morgana. 

The light of Morgana’s spell faded fully, and Shayera felt her magical restraints lift. She gripped her mace in her hand and growling, she leapt for Morgana. The sorceress hummed to herself as if bored, and with a flash of green light, disappeared as well. 

Shayera screamed in frustration and huffed as she turned back to face Wally’s suit. At some point, Superman had made his way over to kneel beside it. Shayera swallowed thickly. 

“He’s gone, isn’t he?” She asked, her voice already hoarse. “He disappeared right in front of us, _again_.” 

Shayera stared at the back of Clark’s head as it shook. He looked over his shoulder at her, his eyebrows furrowed together, looking more confused at the situation than anything else.

“Not quite,” he said softly, “Look.”

Shayera took a deep breath and walked over to stand beside the Kryptonian. Diana joined them from where she had been observing the collateral damage. It was then Shayera noticed there was a lump underneath the Flash suit that looked like something -no some _one_ \- curled in on themself. Shayera suddenly recalled something Morgana had said before she zapped Wally. 

_"Let’s see how well you fare as an actual child.”_

Oh. _Oh._ Relief flooded Shayera’s chest. He wasn’t dead. He didn’t disappear. He would be fine...right?

Superman reached for the cowl of Flash’s suit and pulled it back to reveal what Shayera imagined a very _very_ young Wally West would’ve looked like.

His already messy red hair as an adult was even longer and messier as a child. What wasn’t draping into his eyes was sticking up at odd angles around the rest of his head. His face was small and round, with an adorable button nose, and cheeks, still with their baby fat, flushed slightly red. And the freckles. Shayera had known Wally had some freckles before, but they had clearly faded as Wally had gotten older. This kid was absolutely covered in them. His mouth was parted slightly, revealing a missing front tooth. Small puffs of breath came from the tiny speedster as he slept. 

Shayera didn’t normally do cute and cuddly, but young Wally was absolutely _precious_. 

Diana apparently shared the same sentiment as she gasped softly and gently brushed some of the hair out of Wally’s eyes. 

“By the gods,” she murmured, “He’s so small.”

Shayera and Clark both nodded. 

“He can’t be any more than, what, eleven? Twelve?” Shayera asked.

“If that,” Clark agreed. He pulled the cowl back over Wally’s head and scooped him and the excess of his suit up in his arms before standing up. 

“We need to get him back to the Watchtower and figure out how long this will last,” He stated. Shayera reached for her comm. 

“J’onn?”

“I am here, Shayera. What has happened? I lost communication with you all for a moment,” J'onn responded in her ear. 

Shayera shook her head. “It’s...complicated. We need transport for four up to the Watchtower, immediately. And get someone to prep a room in the medbay.”

“Are any of you hurt?”

“Not exactly. Like I said, it’s kind of complicated.” 

“Alright. Transporting in 3...2...1.”

Shayera’s skin buzzed as she watched the world around her disappear in a flash of light. She blinked, and suddenly she was standing on the Watchtower transport pad, Diana to her left, Clark holding Wally to her right. J’onn looked up at them, and his neutral expression turned to one of both curiosity and concern when he saw the bundle cradled in Superman’s arms. 

“Is that-” the Martian began to question as he made his way out from behind the controls, and over towards the group. 

“Yes,” Clark responded, stepping off the transport pad. Shayera and Diana followed. J’onn looked at Shayera.

“I’m beginning to understand what you meant by complicated.” 

Shayera gave him a small smile. “Is there a room ready for him in the medbay?"

J’onn nodded once and turned to lead the group towards the medbay. “There are staff prepping Bay 3 now.”

The group of founders walked in silence to the medical wing. By the time they reached the room, it had been completely set up. Clark lay the small speedster on the bed inside before giving the staff a brief explanation of what happened, as well as instructions to check his vitals, and for any wounds.

In the hallway, Diana turned to J’onn and Shayera. 

“We will need to have a meeting with the seven, well, the six of us. We need to figure out what to do about all of this,” she stated. Shayera hummed in agreement.

“I have already contacted Batman and Green Lantern,” J’onn replied, “Both should be here soon.” 

Shayera sighed, “I hope he’ll be okay.”

She felt a strong hand on her shoulder, and turned her head to glance up at Superman. 

“Wally’s tough. I’m sure he’ll be fine,” The Man of Steel assured. Shayera stared through the window into Wally’s room with a small smile. She watched the nurses inside check over Wally while the others talked around her. She paid little attention to their conversation until she heard a new voice speaking.

“What exactly is going on?” Shayera heard Green Lantern's deep voice demanding. 

“Wally is a child,” Superman answered bluntly. John rolled his eyes. 

“He tends to act that way, yes, we’re all aware,” John snarked, “I was told he’s in the medbay. What did he do to get himself admitted, this time?”

Shayera huffed and grabbed the marine’s wrist, pulling him roughly over to the window. John’s eyes widened when he saw who was inside.

“When Superman said Wally’s a child, he meant it literally,” she told him. 

“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ,” John breathed, “How-”

“We’ll discuss it when Batman gets here,” J’onn interrupted gently, “I’m sure they don’t want to have to explain it countless times.”

John nodded and turned away from the window. 

“It’s not like it’s the first time this has happened,” he said, with a pointed look at Clark and Diana. Diana rolled her eyes while Clark snorted. 

“Let’s hope this isn’t quite like that,” Clark replied. Shayera gave the trio a confused look, but before she could ask what they were talking about, one of the nurses walked out of Wally’s room.

“He’s awake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love a reference. Do I have any Outlander fans here? I'm sorry, I couldn't stop myself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally wakes up, and is trying to figure out what's going on. Where is he? Where is his Uncle Barry? Why is he telling the Justice League about his homework? Why is Wonder Woman saying that it's a different year than it is? Where. Is. Uncle. Barry?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a month of me working and doing school (yay, senior in college...), and I actually have the day off, so to celebrate, I'm updating. Viola! 
> 
> ALSO: thanks everyone for reviewing! I love reading peoples' comments, and I'm gonna try and start responding to them more, but in general, know that you are all loved and appreciated. :))

When Wally woke up he wasn’t entirely sure where he was. He was pretty sure it was a hospital somewhere, based on the fact that the room was mostly white, and had that weird clean smell. Not to mention all the equipment in the room and the fact that Wally was wearing a hospital gown.

Wally hated hospitals. The last time he’d been in one was about 6 months ago, where he’d woken up from a two week coma after he’d exploded himself in his Aunt and Uncle’s garage and gave himself superspeed. The doctors made him stay at the hospital for a whole ‘nother _week_ before they let him go, but he was _fine_ because now he was _fast like the Flash,_ and had _super-fast healing,_ and-

Wait. Why was he here now? 

Wally observed the room again. Had he gotten hurt as Kid Flash? He’d only officially been his uncle’s partner for about a month, now, but he couldn’t possible be _that_ bad at it, right? But he wasn’t wearing his costume. Uncle Barry wouldn’t have let the doctors and nurses take off his costume because of his secret identity.

Uncle Barry. Where was he? He should be here. Whether Wally had gotten hurt as Kid Flash or Wally West, his uncle would _be here_ , but he _wasn’t_ and-

A woman’s face entered his vision slowly. Very slowly. Wally was pretty sure she was a nurse or something, as she wore dark purple scrubs with a stethoscope around her neck, a light brown ponytail hanging over her shoulder as she bent over him. It seemed like she was trying to talk to him, her mouth moving at an excruciatingly slow pace. Then Wally realized he was vibrating. So that’s why she was moving so slow.

Wally closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and remembered what Uncle Barry and Grandpa Jay taught him about slowing down his perception.

_“Focus on your heart rate,”_ Grandpa Jay had told him, “ _You slow down how fast your heart is beating, and everything else in your body will follow.”_

The first time he had to slow himself down, it had taken him almost an hour. He was still getting the hang of doing it as fast as his mentors, but now it only took him about two minutes.

When Wally could finally understand what the nurse above him was saying, he opened his eyes.

“-re safe here,” she was saying.

“Am I in a hospital?” Wally asked her quietly.

She smiled kindly at him, and stepped back to allow his to sit up in the bed.

“Sort of,” she responded, “How are you feeling?”

“Umm,” Wally thought for a moment, “I’m fine, I guess. ‘M just a little confused.”

The nurse nodded, “I would expect so. You’ve had quite a day.”

Wally furrowed his eyebrows, “What do you mean?”

She hummed as she held out a finger. It was the same way Aunt Iris did when she was telling him to wait a moment, like she had a surprise for him. The nurse turned away from him and left the room. Wally cocked his head to the side as he looked at the door she left through.

Beside the door was a big window, though Wally couldn’t see out of it. It reminded him of those police shows Uncle Barry liked to make fun of, where the people outside the room could see what was happening inside the room, but the people inside the room couldn’t see outside. Wally tapped his fingers against his thigh, and wondered if there were people outside that could see him.

His thoughts were cut brief, and his question sort of answered, when the nurse opened the door to allow five people inside.

Wally’s eyes widened when he realized who these five people were. It was the _Justice League._ Or some of them at least. Wally knew Superman, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter- Kid Flash had met them officially about a month ago, though Wally had also met them in their civilian personas, even if he hadn’t necessarily known that at the time. He hadn’t really gotten to meet Hawkwoman and Green Lantern-not this one anyway; Uncle Hal was one of his favorite people, and his second favorite superhero- but he’d heard a lot of stories about them both, and had seen them in action on TV.

Did this mean he was in Mount Justice? He’d only been to the Justice League’s secret headquarters once when his uncle brought him to officially introduce him to the League, and Robin and Speedy (his honorary aunts and uncles were _superheroes-_ and his two best friends were sidekicks, too! So cool!) But what was he doing here now? And back to his earlier question, _where was Uncle Barry?_

“Wally?” Hawkwoman asked, stepping forward. Wally noticed she wasn’t wearing her helmet or her usual armor, instead, wearing something that looked more like exercise clothes. Wally figured they must be her civvies.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

Wally shrugged, “’M fine, I guess. What’s goin’ on?”

Hawkwoman opened her mouth to respond when Superman laid a hand on her shoulder.

“Wally, what’s the last thing you remember?”

Wally paused. What _was_ the last thing he remembered? His face scrunched up as he thought. He was pretty sure he’d just been at _home_. Aunt Iris had told him he had to finish his homework before he could play his video games, so-

“I was doing my history homework,” Wally told them. By the surprised looks on their faces, Wally assumed they weren’t quite expecting that answer.

“I did my math and science homework already, ‘cause it’s easy, and my science teacher told us if everyone in the class did their homework, we could build rollercoasters for marbles on Friday, and I really wanted to do that because that’s really cool, so I finished my science homework, and then I wanted to play video games, but Aunt Iris said I couldn’t play my video games until _all_ of my homework was done, so I was answering questions about the Constitution, even though history is _super_ boring and science is _so_ much cooler and-“

“Whoa! Easy there, hotshot!” Green Lantern- John Stewart, Wally remembered his name was- lurched forward to put his hand on top of Wally’s head, as if to still him. It was then that Wally realized he was babbling, and probably at a pace that none of them could understand. He could feel his face turn red.

“Sorry,” he muttered, shrinking in on himself. They probably thought he was _such_ a loser now. His fingers tapped quickly on his thigh again as his nervousness grew.

“No need to be sorry, kid,” Lantern chuckled as he ruffled Wally’s hair, “Just lost track of what you were saying there, for a second.”

Wally gave him a shy smile before turning back to Superman, who was now in quiet conversation with Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter. Hawkwoman stood beside John, looking at Wally curiously.

“Wally, how old are you?”

“I’m 10.”

“So, you have no idea who we are, do you?” She asked. Wally blinked.

“’Course I do!” He exclaimed, “You’re the Justice League!”

He pointed to the trio still having their conversation.

“That’s Superman, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter, though he has a new costume,” he turned back to the two at his bedside, “And you’re Green Lantern, well one of them, and Hawkwoman!”

Hawkwoman cocked her head to the side- and Wally could really see the bird resemblance there, aside from, ya know, the wings- almost like she was trying to decipher what he had just said.

“Hawk _woman_?” she asked. Wally nodded.

“Yeah?”

“That’s not-“

Martian Manhunter stepped forward suddenly.

“Wally,” he began, “Do you know what today’s date is?”

“Uh, September 8th, 2005.”

The room was quiet for a moment as the adult heroes stared at him. Wally fidgeted nervously. Was he wrong? How long has he been in Mount Justice? _What was going on?_

“That doesn’t add up,” Wonder Woman murmured, confused. “It’s almost 2007, so if he’s ten years old…” Her voice trailed off.

Now Wally was even more confused. And quite frankly, starting to get a little _scared._

“I can explain everything,” Wally heard a new voice coming from the door. Batman stood in the doorway. Superman whipped his head around to stare at the Dark Knight.

“You _can?”_ He asked incredulously. He shook his head, “No, nevermind. Of course you can. Do you know how to fix this?”

“Not yet,” Batman responded, “But I can explain why Wally’s information about us is slightly off,” he glanced at Hawkwoman, then to Wonder Woman, “and why his timeline doesn’t seem to match up with ours.”

“Why?” Lantern asked.

“Because it’s not meant to match up.” Batman stated simply.

Wally stared at his best friend’s mentor, confused. What was he talking about? The other Leaguers seemed to be just as confused as he was, as they also stared at the Bat with clueless expressions.

Batman moved into the room, and, from seemingly nowhere, produced a pile of small clothes that he placed on Wally’s bed.

“Get dressed.” He told Wally. He walked back towards to the door, pausing to look briefly back at the heroes.

“Meeting room. Ten minutes.” Batman demanded, before nodding his head towards Wally. “Bring him.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meeting is had, and explanations are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told ya I'm not dead! Also, because I'm curious, how did you guys find my story? Lmk in the comments!

The Leaguers left the room so Wally could get dressed. He grinned when he saw the shirt Batman had brought for him: bright red with a yellow lightning bolt on the chest. The rest of the clothes were simple, blue jeans, socks, underwear, and a pair of grey tennis shoes.

As he put on his clothes, Wally briefly wondered where Batman had gotten these clothes from. Wally didn’t think they were his own, they felt too new. They were definitely too big to be Dick’s. Wally shrugged off his thoughts as he placed the hospital gown he’d been wearing on the bed and headed for the door. It _was_ Batman he’d been dealing with, after all.

Wonder Woman and Green Lantern were the only two Leaguers in the hallway when Wally emerged. Whatever quiet conversation they’d been having stopped when they saw Wally. Diana smiled kindly at him.

“You ready for this meeting, hotshot?” Green Lantern asked. Diana turned to lead the way to wherever they were going, and Green Lantern followed, still looking at Wally. The speedster shrugged and fell into step beside the older hero.

“Never been to a meeting before.”

The Lantern laughed and ruffled Wally’s hair. “Hopefully it won’t be too boring for you. Batman said he had answers to whatever is going on with you.”

Wally faltered in his step, “Whaddya mean 'What’s goin’ on with me'?”

Green Lantern paused like he was trying to come up with an answer. A few moments and a turn around a corner later, he answered.

“You did wake up in our medbay, kid,” he said slowly. “You obviously have a lot of questions as to how and why things are so weird right now, and honestly, so do we.”

The speedster let out a soft _oh._ Things _were_ confusing right now. Hawkwoman didn’t know her own name, Wonder Woman didn’t know what year it was, and Wally _still_ hadn’t seen Uncle Barry or Uncle Hal anywhere and-

“Why don’t you call Flash? I bet he can help!” Wally grinned up at John. His smile fell a bit when the older hero didn’t answer, only clenched his jaw, and stared at the back of Wonder Woman’s head. A few steps ahead of them, Diana sighed.

“Flash is…not available right now, Wally,” she answered softly. Wally could tell there was something she wasn’t quite telling him, but he didn’t get a chance to ask about it as the Amazon had reached a large door. She keyed something into a pad to the right of the door, and the door slid open with a _hiss_. Wally and Green Lantern followed her inside and Wally’s eyes widened when he saw the room. 

In the center of the room was a large round table where Batman, Superman, Hawkwoman, and Martian Manhunter currently sat. There were three more seats that hadn’t been filled yet. On the left wall- well, it wasn’t really a wall, more like a floor to ceiling window. And outside the window…Wally sped over and smushed his face against it.

“Are we in _space_?!” he shrieked, bouncing on his toes. He could see the whole Earth from up here! He spun quickly to grin at the Leaguers. Wonder Woman and Green Lantern had joined the other four at the table. Now there was only one seat remaining, between Batman and Green Lantern.

“This is so _cool!_ ”

Superman smiled kindly at him. “Welcome to the Watchtower. Headquarters of the Justice League.”

Wally huffed out a breathless laugh in disbelief. He was in the Justice League’s headquarters! In _space_! But wait, he thought he’d _already been_ to the League’s HQ!

“Whaddabout Mount Justice?”

Hawkwoman raised an eyebrow at him, “Mount Justice?”

“Uh, yeah? It’s a secret mountain, remember? I thought _that_ was the headquarters for the Justice League!”

Superman shook his head, “I’ve never-“

“Like I said earlier,” Batman cut the Kryptonian off, “I can explain the confusion.”

Right. The meeting. Wally looked at the Leaguers, trying to figure out what exactly he was supposed to do. As if sensing his coming question, Martian Manhunter gestured to the empty seat. Green Lantern reached over beside him and pulled the seat out.

“Take a seat, hotshot.”

Wally sped over to the chair and was about to sit down when he noticed a splash of color. He looked at the back of the chair where he saw a lightning bolt painted in yellow on the back. Wally raised his eyebrows.

“I can’t sit here! This is the Flash’s seat!”

Green Lantern chuckled, “I don’t think he’ll mind.”

Wally thought for a moment. He'd gotten in trouble for sitting in his dad's recliner before, but Uncle Barry wouldn’t mind, would he? He didn’t usually mind about this kind of stuff. Well, there was that one time, where Wally had taken his spot on the couch, and Barry acted all grumpy, but he'd only been kidding, right?

Batman cleared his throat.

Wally sat in the chair.

There were a few beats of silence while they waited for Batman to explain. After what felt to Wally like hours, Batman finally spoke,

“We have all experienced it in different capacities, but what exactly do you all know about the multiverse?”

Wally perked up. He knew about the multiverse! Uncle Barry explained it to him when he first got his powers, and since then, Wally had read about it more, and talked to both Uncle Barry and Grandpa Jay in depth about it.

“You mean like the Lords’ earth?” Superman asked warily, glancing briefly- sadly- at Wally.

Batman nodded, “Yes and no. That was just one Earth. And according to what Flash has explained to me before, was more of an alternate timeline of _this_ Earth than an altogether alternate Earth.”

“Are they not one in the same?” Wonder Woman asked.

Wally shook his head and spoke up, “Not usually.”

All the older heroes’ heads swiveled towards him, and Wally suddenly felt nervous. He swallowed.

“The multiverse theory states that there are an infinite amount of Earths,” He explained, as if he were giving a book report. “They’re usually made at different times, with different origins, and time usually runs differently in each one. Different universes, or Earths, usually occupy the same place in space, they just vibrate at different frequencies, so you can’t see or feel all the other Earths, just the one you live on. All the Earths have different timelines that come off of it based off of choices people make, like the butterfly effect, but it’s still connected to it’s original Earth, which is why it can change so easy. That’s why it’s easier to time travel than travel to another Earth, because when you travel to another Earth, you have to break through frequency barriers, rather than just, like, run fast enough to travel back in time.”

The Leaguers stared at him. Wally shrunk in his seat.

“Did I say something wrong?” He asked in a small voice.

“Wally,” Hawkwoman began slowly, “How do you know all that?”

“Flash taught it to me when I got my powers,” He responded. “Called it Speedster 101. Well, after the running part. He said speedsters get our speed from something called the speedforce, and that makes us, um, what’s the word? Oh! Inherently, I think. It makes us inherently connected to the entire multiverse because we can travel in it, and well, time, so easily.”

“So Flash is…” Manhunter trailed off, looking at Batman. The Bat nodded once.

“Flash came to me about six months before the Justice League was formed, stating that he needed my help to get back home. At first, I was reluctant to believe anything he was telling me, but he had technology that doesn’t exist on our Earth, and enough information about me that he managed to convince me he was telling the truth. We worked almost non-stop for about a week before we realized any immediate solution we could come up with was either not going to work, or would need much more time to figure out. I set him up with documents and paperwork to make it seem as if he’d been here his entire life, and would enable him to live as a civilian, and he took off for Central City, got a job, and an apartment, and became the Flash of this Earth. It was supposed to be…temporary.”

More silence filled the meeting room to the point where Wally was kind of uncomfortable. And still confused. They were talking about the Flash, but he wasn’t even here. And wait, that’s not how Uncle Barry became the Flash! And why was everyone looking at him like that?

“Did you- What all have you tried?” Superman asked.

“Pretty much anything we could think of,” Batman answered. “He said he had already tried running at his maximum speed, whenever he first got here, but it didn’t work. We have been working on Lord Batman’s machine since we returned from the Lords’ timeline. I managed to get ahold of the schematics before we left. We’ve not had any luck with it so far. I do suspect he got very close to going back after he took down Brainiac, however, he has not said anything about it. It would be much easier for him to explain everything regarding that, but obviously right now that isn’t possible.”

Wally had no idea what was going on. He had to ask.

“So, what does this have to do with me?”

“Everything,” Batman replied.

Hawkwoman reached across Green Lantern to put her hand on top of Wally’s, and squeezed gently.

“I know this is scary, and a lot to take in, Wally, but we really need you to remember. You, me, Superman, and Wonder Woman were battling Morgan le Fey, and you got hit with a spell. That spell put you in your ten-year-old body, with your ten-year-old memories. Now, it seems like you remember different versions of us, instead of, well, this version of us. For you to go back to normal, and for us to really be able to help you get home, we need you to try to remember everything.”

Wally shook his head, and his hands began to vibrate. “Wh-what do you mean?”

“Wally, _you_ are the Flash.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so definitely not a physics expert by any means, mostly going off of comic and show explanations, plus, kind of what makes sense for it all to work in my own head. Please don't come for me, because I know that information about the multiverse is probably by no means accurate.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally panics, John has somewhat of a crisis on how well he actually knows his supposed best friend, and the League figures out how long the spell should last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I do update incredibly inconsistently, but that keeps you guys on your toes, doesn't it?

John had a feeling that there may have been a better way to break the news to Wally. He knew it was Wally, the Flash, his best friend, but right now, he was not the same Wally they all knew and loved. He was ten, and as far as he knew, in a very strange and scary situation.

Wally was vibrating in his seat, clenching his fists, and shaking his head.

“No,” he muttered, “No, no, _no._ ”

John reached for his shoulder to steady the boy, “Wally-”

“NO!” the speedster jumped out of his seat and backed away still vibrating, “You’re _lying!_ ”

“Wally, you’re panicking,” Superman stood and slowly walked toward Wally. His arms were stretched out in front of him placatingly, like he was trying to calm a scared animal.

“You’re _lying!”_ Wally repeated, his breathing now starting to get faster. “I’m _not_ the Flash! You’re _not_ the real Justice League, who _are_ you?”

“Wally, I promise, we _are_ the Justice League, and we are trying to help-“ Diana tried her hand at soothing the now hyperventilating speedster, but he slapped his hands over his ears and shook his head.

“Stop, stop, _stop!_ ”

Next thing John knew, the space Wally had just been standing was empty, and the door to the meeting room stood open. Shit.

“Find him,” Batman stated gruffly, standing from his seat and sweeping out of the room. The others followed, splitting up to search the Watchtower. Diana followed Bruce down one hallway, heading back towards the med-bay. J’onn and Superman flew down another hallway, towards the cafeteria. John and Shayera split off from the group in the direction of the founders’ living quarters.

John was grateful that anyone who wasn’t a founder or vital staff had been cleared to only operate from the Metrotower while they figured this out. He was not in the mood to have to try and explain this to the other heroes…especially those who wouldn’t be as understanding about Flash being from another Earth.

They searched each of the rooms, starting with Diana’s. During the search, neither spoke, each of them lost in their own thoughts.

John finally processed what he had been told over the course of the last thirty minutes. Wally was supposed to be his best friend, and John just found out that he didn’t actually know Wally _at all_. Wally had been lying to him this entire time. He was from another Earth. Another universe. He knew another Justice League. Judging by his reactions to them at 10 years old, he had _grown up_ knowing a different Justice League. There was a different Flash. He’d called Shayera Hawk _woman._ Did they have a different Green Lantern, too? Were he and Wally even friends on his Earth?

Was Wally ever going to tell them that he was from an entirely different universe?

They really needed to figure this out.

John sighed.

Shayera looked at him from where she was peering under Clark’s bed.

“We’ll find him,” She assured, “He can’t have gone _that_ far. He doesn’t really have a way to get off the Watchtower without J’onn manning the teleporters.”

John shook his head, “That’s not what I was worried about.”

He paused as Shayera opened the door to her own room and walked in.

“I was just…processing. This is _not_ something I ever saw coming,” John shook his head as scanned the room with his ring for the young speedster, “Wally’s from another Earth. Another _universe_ , completely different from ours. Not an alternate or future timeline, a place that has nothing to do with our reality. I just…do you think he was ever going to tell us?”

Shayera shrugged. “I understand why he wouldn’t,” She murmured. She didn’t meet John’s eyes.

Right. She had been very much in the same situation before the Thanagarian invasion. What was it with the people John was closest to lying to him about who they really are?

“Makes a lot of sense why he was so adamant about standing up for me,” Shay said quietly, closing her door and crossing the hallway to John’s room.

Neither said anything more as they searched his and J’onn’s room. Finally, Shayera huffed frustratedly.

“Do you think he’s been playing stupid this entire time?” She asked.

Now that was a thought that hadn’t quite occurred to John. He thought back to the meeting and what both Bruce _and_ Wally had said. Wally knew _a lot_ about the multiverse…and even before that had seemed very excited about physics, especially for a ten year old. And Batman had said that he and Wally had been working _together_ on getting back home; that certainly surprised John. He knew Wally was the one trying to get home, but he was a little shocked that Bruce actually allowed him to help. There must’ve been a reason.

“I’m starting to think he may be smarter than he’s letting everyone believe,” John replied. He snorted, “Never would’ve taken Wally for the secretive type.”

John shook his head, and the duo left for the next room. Flash’s emblem was painted on the door, the same way it was painted it on his chair. John really hoped the kid would be in here.

The door slid open for the heroes, and they stepped in. It was surprisingly clean, John noticed. The few other times John had been in Flash’s room it had been a whirlwind of papers. Now, John was starting to wonder what exactly was on those papers. Plans? Schematics? Theories? Should John have noticed the speedster figuring out how to get back to his earth before?

A sniffle came from somewhere in the room, interrupting the Lantern’s thoughts. He and Shayera exchanged a brief look.

“Wally, are you in here?” Shayera called out.

There was no response, but they could hear shuffling that sounded like it came from under the bed. John laid down flat on his stomach to look, his ring shining a dim light underneath the bed. Scared, green, bloodshot eyes stared back at the marine.

“Hey there, hotshot, you okay?”

Wally squirmed away from Green Lantern, hiding his face in the crook of his arm.

“Please go away,” came the ten-year-old’s muffled voice.

“Wally, kid, we just want to help you,” John replied gently.

Wally shook his head, “I wanna go home!”

His voice cracked and quivered. John swallowed thickly. How was he supposed to comfort him if Wally wouldn’t listen? He glanced up at Shayera, who held a worried look on her face. She bit her lip and shrugged. John sighed.

“Wally, we want to help you get home. But we can’t help you if you don’t help us. We won’t hurt you, I promise. Could you please crawl out for us?”

Wally looked at John warily, “You’re really the Justice League?”

John gave him a small smile, “We may not be the Justice League you remember, but yes, we really are the Justice League.”

The small speedster studied the marine for a moment before nodding. John stood up and backed away to allow Wally to crawl out. His cheeks were still wet from crying, and his freckles stood out against his red cheeks and nose. Lantern squeezed the kid’s shoulder comfortingly as Wally sniffled and rubbed the back of his hand against his nose.

“We’re going to figure this all out, okay, hotshot?” John asked. Wally nodded slowly.

“You okay?” Shayera asked, kneeling beside the two. Wally opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by a growling noise. His arms immediately circled his stomach as he blushed.

“Sorry,” He mumbled.

John barked out a laugh, “C’mon, let’s get you to the cafeteria and get you something to eat.”

The trio made their way to the cafeteria where Wally grabbed four cheeseburgers and two trays of fries. While Wally ate, Shayera contacted the others to let them know Wally had been found.

She turned to John and spoke quietly, “Batman said to meet them back in the medbay when Wally’s done eating. He wants to figure out how long this spell is going to last.”

John nodded, “Doctor Fate?”

Shayera shook her head, “Unavailable. I think he called Zatanna.”

John hummed in response, and looked at Wally who had just crammed the last of his fries in his mouth.

“Ready?” The Lantern asked.

Wally nodded, still chewing. He stood up and sped around the cafeteria putting his trays in the dirty bins.

“Where’re we going, now?” He asked, following the older heroes.

“Back to the medbay,” Shayera answered, “Batman called a friend to see if she can figure out how long this spell is going to last.”

“Oh yeah,” Wally murmured, “You said I’m actually a grown up?”

Shayera gave him a small smile. “You are. You got hit by a spell that turned you ten-years-old again.”

Wally scrunched his nose, “But…magic isn’t real! So it can’t be a spell.”

John looked at Wally in disbelief, “You don’t believe in magic?”

Wally shook his head, “Nope. It’s silly. Science is what explains everything, what people call magic is just science that we haven’t figured out yet.”

Shayera laughed, “Never took you for a skeptic!”

Wally shrugged and looked at Shayera with curious eyes, “So, how old am I?”

John blinked. Dammit, he didn’t even know _how old Wally was._

Shayera seemed just as much at a loss for words as John.

“I- I don’t know, actually,” she stammered.

Wally cocked his head in confusion, “You don’t know how old I am?”

“You never actually told us how old you were,” John told him.

“Oh. Weird,” Wally replied, walking into the room he’d woken up in. Inside stood the other four founders, as well as Zatanna. John could only assume she had been told what happened. Or at least part of it.

Superman nodded towards them, a kind smile directed at Wally. No one said anything about Wally taking off, Batman simply instructed him to sit on the bed.

Wally did as told, looking at Zatanna as she approached him.

“What’s your name?”

She smiled at him, “I’m Zatanna.”

The speedster furrowed his eyebrows, “I’ve heard of Zatara, but not Zatanna.”

The magician’s eyebrows raised, “He was my dad. How did you-“

“Don’t ask,” Batman interrupted. “It’s a long story.”

Zatanna glared at him before rolling her eyes, “Alright then, let’s get started. This should only take a couple seconds.”

The founders stepped back to allow the magician room to work. She gently placed her fingertips to each side of Wally’s head, and began her backwards incantation. Her eyes glowed briefly for a moment before fading. When she was finished, she smiled at Wally and ruffled his hair. Wally just sat there, his expression skeptic and confused about what had just happened.

She looked back at the founders, “It looks like Morgana’s spell is temporary. Should last a couple days max. Wouldn’t recommend trying to reverse it or anything, just let it run its course.”

“Thank you, Zee.” Batman nodded. She nodded as she patted the Bat’s shoulder.

“No problem,” she replied. “I assume you are wanting to keep this under wraps?”

“Need to know, only,” Superman replied, nodding.

“Understood,” Zee smiled. She tipped her hat in a mock goodbye, and slipped out of the room.

“A couple days, huh hotshot?” John asked, turning back towards Wally. “Well, it looks like we better figure out what to do with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't plan on this chapter being as long as it is, but oh well! It was fun to write John's inner monologue of how well he actually knows Wally...


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The founders decide where Wally is staying and Wally meets some new (and old) friends.

The founders ultimately decided Wally couldn’t stay on the Watchtower. They were already getting questions from the rest of the Leaguers as to why the station was on temporary lockdown, and it had only been a few hours. Wally knew they couldn’t stretch out his stay in space (Wally still couldn’t believe he was in space!) for much longer. Where were they going to put him? Apparently his aunt and uncle weren’t on this Earth, so he couldn’t stay with them. His parents? He hoped not.

Finally, after about fifteen minutes of listening to the Leaguers discuss where he would go, Batman spoke in a tone Wally knew gave no room for any more discussion.

“He will come stay at the manor. I have plenty of room, and the means to feed him properly.”

Superman paused before turning to look at Wally, “Is that okay with you?”

Staying with Batman? Sure, why not. It’s not like it’s the first time Wally’s spent the night at Wayne Manor. Wally nodded at the heroes.

Batman turned to leave the medbay, and Green Lantern gestured for Wally to follow him. Wally hopped off of the bed and followed the Bat down the twisting corridors of the Watchtower. Martian Manhunter wasn’t far being them. This time, they ended up in a huge room that, when Wally looked up he could barely see the ceiling of. There were a lot of levels Wally could see. Manhunter flew up to one of them while Batman directed Wally to stand on a platform beside him.

Batman looked down at Wally and placed a hand on his shoulder. “This is our zeta transporter. It’s going to teleport us to the Batcave. It may feel a little strange,” he explained.

Wally wanted to ask what happened to the zeta-tubes, like they had in Mount Justice, but decided against it. Their zeta technology was just different on this Earth. A zeta beam is a zeta beam, right?

Wally couldn’t wait to go home where everything made sense.

Wally nodded at the Gothamite who, in turn, nodded up at Martian Manhunter. A few seconds later, a bright light surrounded Wally. He felt weird fuzzy feeling- like when his arm falls asleep, but this time it was all over his whole body- and before he could blink, the feeling and light had faded away and he was no longer standing on the Watchtower.

The Batcave was familiarly strange. Wally had, of course, been to the Batcave before when he’d hung out with Robin, or when Bruce and Uncle Barry were working on a case together. But this version was…off. The same way the Leaguers Wally had been interacting with were off. They way that they looked and acted like the people and places he knew, but Wally didn’t really feel any connection to any of them the way he did back home. These people were strangers to him. And so was this Batcave.

It was big and dark, just like at home, but it was also…sadder almost. Older. Wally and Batman- Bruce, now that he’d pulled the cowl down, and _wow_ he was older than Wally remembered him being- were standing on a platform beside what Wally was pretty sure was this version of the Batmobile. A narrow, rail-less walkway bridged to a larger area where the Batcomputer stood, seemingly the only real source of light currently in the dark cave. As Wally followed Bruce towards the computer, he noticed, to the left, a cavern where Wally could see 3 massive objects- a t-rex, a penny, and a joker card. Maybe somethings really are universal. Multi-versal?

To the right of the Batcomputer were four glass cases, also dimly lit. All four contained suits, and the first two Wally recognized: Batman and Robin. That means Dick exists in this universe! Although, his Robin suit is a little different- both the vest and the pants were red, with black boots and black…underwear? The gloves were also black, though sleeker and pointier than his Robin’s bulkier holo-gloves.

The other two costumes Wally didn’t recognize. One was mostly black, with what looked like a blue bird with its wings draped around the shoulders. The fourth seemed to be a female version of Batman’s costume- grey with a blue-ish cowl, cape, and boot, as well as yellow, gloves, a belt, and the bat symbol on the chest. Wally wondered who those costumes belonged to. Was this Batman married? Or have a brother or sister? Or are they his kids?

Wally was snapped out of this musings by someone politely clearing their throat behind him. He turned to see who the noise came from and-

“Alfred!”

The butler (or bat-butler, as he, Dick, and Roy secretly liked to call him), had apparently made his way downstairs while Wally was observing the cave, and was now standing beside Bruce holding a tray of steaming mugs.

“Master Wallace, would you care for some hot cocoa?”

Wally grinned, “Yes please!”

Alfred handed Wally a mug that had the Flash insignia on it (while Bruce gave an annoyed look at the mug) before handing Bruce a mug with the bat symbol on it (to which Bruce gave an equally annoyed look). The cocoa wasn’t too hot to start drinking, so Wally began sipping on it. Gosh, Alfred’s cocoa was the best.

While Wally drank his cocoa, Bruce and Alfred had a quiet conversation a few feet away that Wally couldn’t quite make out. Curious, Wally made to ask what they were talking about, but before he could say anything, a new set of footsteps came racing down the stairs that Wally assumed led up to the Manor. Wally looked to see a boy a few years older than him jump onto the chair of the Batcomputer, legs spread wide with a foot on each arm rest.

“Heya, boss! Ready to kick some bad guy butt tonight?!” He exclaimed, punching the air like he was beating up imaginary thugs.

“ _Dick?!_ ” Wally gaped at the boy. Dick was supposed to be two years _younger_ than him, not a teenager!

The boy- Dick- gave him a funny look. “Uh, no? Who the heck are you?”

“I’m Wally.” This boy _wasn’t_ Dick? Then who was he?

“Weird, that’s Flash’s name. B, please don’t tell me you’re adopting more kids off the street!” Not-Dick looked pleadingly at the older hero.

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. “Tim, get off the chair. This _is_ the Flash. He was hit by a spell earlier this afternoon that de-aged him. He’s staying with us for a couple of days until the spell wears off.”

The boy- Tim, Bruce said his name was?- raised his eyebrows and looked back at Wally. Wally waved. The only thing that came out of Tim’s mouth was, “Huh.”

He looked back at Bruce, “Seriously?”

“Suit up, Robin. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Was all Bruce said to Tim before turning towards the staircase Tim had come bounding down from. Alfred collected the mugs and set them out on the desk before following him. Wally trailed behind the adults. He could feel Tim’s curious stare burning a hole in the back of his head, but his own curiosity and confusion about the boy had his mind reeling far too much to pay the teenager any attention.

It was one thing to be on a different Earth and not know these versions of people he was close to, but to have a completely different person exist in place of his best friend? Tim seemed nice enough, but Wally still wasn’t terribly fond of that idea.

“Wally, are you alright?”

Bruce’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked up and noticed that they were now in a hallway in the manor, which Wally was pretty sure led to the bedrooms. The thought of a bed, especially one as comfortable as these, had Wally’s eyelids suddenly feeling very heavy.

“Yeah,” the speedster began slowly, “’M just really tired.”

Alfred placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, “You’ve had quite a day, young sir. A good night’s sleep shall do you well.”

Bruce nodded, “Alfred set up a room for you before we arrived.”

Alfred walked a couple more doors down and stepped inside. Bruce and Wally followed. The room was nice. It looked like most of the guest rooms Wally had been in before, so he didn’t bother to pay too much attention to it. He had a bed and a bathroom, and right now, that’s all he cared about.

Wally walked towards the bed, yawning.

“Tim and I are going on patrol, but Alfred will be here if you need anything,” Bruce told him from the doorway. Wally nodded at him, and Bruce left to return to the Batcave.

Alfred explained that he’d left some pajamas and extra clothes on top of the dresser, and there were toiletries in the adjoining bathroom.

“Will you be needing anything else, Master Wallace?”

“I don’t think so. Thanks, Alfred.”

“Of course, sir. If anything arises, you can find me in either the kitchen or the Batcave.”

Wally nodded both his understanding and his thanks, and Alfred left the room, shutting the door gently behind him. Wally changed into a set of pajamas before quickly brushing his teeth and jumping into bed, burrowing himself under the covers. He didn’t even remember falling asleep.

* * *

Wally woke up with a start, gasping with his heart beating rapidly…even for him. He swallowed and tried to calm himself down, his fists clenching and unclenching the sheets.

“You okay, kid?” Came a voice from his bedside. He looked to see a stranger standing a couple steps away from the bed. The man was young, Wally guessed in his twenties. He wore a black motorcycle jacket with a white t-shirt and dark jeans, with hands stuffed in the pockets. His black hair was long, and tied back in a low-ponytail. Blue eyes and a kind smile looked back at him comfortingly. Those eyes seemed…vaguely familiar, but Wally couldn’t quite figure out why.

When Wally didn’t answer the new man, he spoke again, “Sorry for just kind of barging in your room, but you were screaming, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Screaming? He must’ve been having a nightmare. He had those sometimes. Though, he usually remembered at least part of the dreams. He didn’t remember anything, now.

“Seriously, kid, you alright?” The man asked again.

Wally nodded and replied with a soft, “Yeah. Just a nightmare.”

The man hummed and nodded, “Yeah, I get those, too.”

A moment of silence and then, “So, Tim tells me you’re the Flash, huh? Wally, right?”

Wally nodded, still not sure who this stranger was. He had to be trustworthy if he was in the manor, and apparently knew who Wally was. The man smiled warmly at him and pulled one of his hands out of pocket to extend it towards Wally. Wally slowly reached out his own hand to shake, just like Uncle Hal had shown him.

“My name is Dick. Dick Grayson.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-daaaa!! I just realized that it's been like 2 months since I updated...oops. Sorry. Finals kicked my ass and this chapter honestly just took forever to get out. But it's here now!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A morning at Wayne Manor, and Bruce having a soft spot for kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can pry Bruce "good dad with a soft spot for tiny children" Wayne out of my cold dead hands.

There were some days- many days, actually- when Bruce wondered how the hell he managed to get stuck with such nosy, gossipy kids. He hadn’t exactly intended for anyone outside the League’s founders to know about Wally’s current situation, though he supposed Alfred and Tim finding out was inevitable when he brought Wally back to the manor. So yes, Bruce was a little annoyed at the scene he found in his kitchen when he came downstairs for breakfast.

Sure, he expected to see the mountain of food on the table in front of a tiny red-headed speedster. Yes, he expected to see Tim in his school uniform, watching in amusement as said speedster practically inhaled his breakfast. Yes, he expected to see Alfred in the kitchen still cooking. And he wasn’t at all surprised to see Ace sat between Tim and Wally begging and waiting either for them to feed him or for food to fall on the ground. What he didn’t expect to see was his eldest son sitting across from the two boys, shoveling cereal into his mouth as he chattered away at the young speedster, who seemed to be regarding the young man warily.

Bruce paused in the doorway.

“Dick, what are you doing here?” He questioned. The boys’ heads whipped around as they realized Bruce had arrived. Ace barked at him happily.

“Hey, B,” Dick greeted around of mouthful of cereal. At the stove Alfred cleared his throat, causing Dick to immediately shut his mouth and swallow. He grinned sheepishly at the butler before turning back to Bruce.

“Tim called last night, before you went out on patrol, I guess, and told me something weird had happened to Flash yesterday, and that he was staying here until everything got figured out.”

Personally, Bruce blamed ‘Uncle Clark’ for his kids’ curiosity and gossip habits. Clark would’ve said it was Bruce’s fault, training his kids in detective work, but, well, Clark _is_ the one who gets _paid_ to be nosy.

Bruce sighed in exasperation as he sat down beside Dick. Alfred set a steaming mug and a plate of full English breakfast down in front him. Bruce thanked the older man as he took a sip of his coffee.

“And that explains you coming over, how?”

Dick rolled his eyes, “Gee, Bruce, it’s nice to see you too.”

Tim snorted into his orange juice at his brother’s sarcasm and Wally looked…almost worried at Bruce’s and Dick’s interaction. Bruce mentally filed that response away for later.

Bruce raised an eyebrow expectantly at . Dick huffed and ate another spoonful of his breakfast.

“I figured since Tim had school today, Wally could at least have _some_ friendly company…aside from Alfred, anyway,” Dick told him with a cheeky grin. Bruce looked at Wally, who gave him a small smile, though his body was tense and his eyes were flitting between Bruce and Dick.

It made Bruce wonder if Wally had some sort of…grudge against Dick. He had noticed in the past, when Flash had visited the cave to work on the speedster’s return home, that he had a tendency to avoid Dick. He didn’t seem to mind hanging around Tim quite as much, though there were some days Wally’s interactions with the boy seemed forced, but if Bruce ever said anything about Nightwing visiting, Wally would either reschedule or wait until the Bludhaven vigilante had left. Bruce never thought too much of it until now. He was actually a little glad the two never interacted; he had a gut feeling they would get on like a house on fire…which likely would’ve resulted in Bruce’s house on fire. That being said, Wally appearing so nervous around Dick now was starting to make Bruce think there was some sort of animosity between the two. He probably shouldn’t let Wally get any more anxious than he already seemed.

“He will be fine with me, Dick,” Bruce told his eldest. “You didn’t have to drive all the way over here.”

“C’mon, old man. Looking after your own kids is one thing; babysitting your colleague, your _friend_ is another,” Dick tried to reason. Giving the teasing grin on his face, Bruce had the feeling he said that more to get under his skin than anything else. He knew Bruce didn’t have _friends._

“Besides,” Tim piped up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Alfred scolded him from afar and Tim exchanged his hand for a napkin. “They already bonded, or whatever.”

Bruce squinted at the boy, “Bonded?”

“I woke him up from a nightmare. Kid was screaming his lungs out. I’m surprised you didn’t hear it,” Dick explained.

Bruce had been downstairs in the cave all night. He wouldn’t have heard Wally screaming in his guest bedroom. Wait, screaming? He turned his attention towards Wally who had turned pink at Dick talking about how the two had met.

“Wally?”

The boy shrugged, “Just a nightmare. I don’t even remember it.”

Dick had to wake him up because he was screaming, and Wally didn’t even remember what he was dreaming about? Odd. Bruce would ask him more about it later, he got the feeling Wally wouldn’t say anything else in front of the others. Or at least Dick.

Tim patted the speedster on the shoulder sympathetically as he shoved eggs into his mouth. Yes, they all knew about nightmares in this household.

“Hrn,” Bruce grumbled as he looked back to the young man beside him. “Thank you, Dick, but I can handle it from here.”

Dick stared at him accusingly for a moment, and Bruce could see the debate in his eyes on whether or not he wanted this fight. Apparently he decided it was a lost cause as he rolled his eyes and finished the last of his cereal. The room was silent for a moment before Alfred entered holding Tim’s lunch bag.

“Master Timothy, I do believe it is time for you to be getting on to school.”

Tim chugged down the last of his orange juice as he jumped out of the chair and snagged his lunch from Alfred, “I’m ready when you are, Alf!”

Dick stood up, “Don’t worry about him, Alfie. I’ll take you on my way back to the ‘Haven, Timmy.”

Tim grinned widely at his big brother before racing to the front door, shouting his good-byes. Dick grabbed a leftover sausage off of Tim’s abandoned plate and tossed it to Ace before scratching the German Shepherd behind his ears and strolling out of the room with a mock salute.

Wally and Bruce finished their breakfast in silence, which, if he was being honest, threw Bruce off a bit. He was used to Flash’s incessant joking, not Wally’s quiet timidness. He watched the small speedster, noticing the twitching of his eyebrows and the pursing of his lips, as if he were concentrating on trying to figure something out.

“Something on your mind, Wally?” Bruce asked quietly.

Wally opened his mouth before closing again, repeating the action a few times as if he were trying to figure out what to say.

He scrunched up his nose, “I thought Dick was s’posed to be Robin?”

Bruce had to admit, of all the things he expected Wally to say, it wasn’t that. How did a ten-year-old Wally from another Earth even know that?

“What do you mean?”

“I just-“ Wally trailed off, clenching his hands into fists and looking troubled, “Is Dick not Robin on this…Earth, or something?”

Did Wally know Dick as Robin? Bruce wanted to ask Wally more, but the poor kid looked so distraught, he thought it best not to question him about it. Bruce reached across the table and squeezed the boy’s shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture, instead.

“Dick was Robin, when he was a kid, but after he graduated college he…moved, and became a new hero called Nightwing,” Bruce explained gently. “Tim took over the Robin mantle a couple of years ago.”

Wally nodded as if he understood, though Bruce suspected something still troubled him. He decided to let it go for now. Instead, Bruce wiped his hands on a napkin and stood up. Wally looked at him expectantly.

Bruce gestured for the speedster to follow as he walked out of the kitchen. Wally quickly fell into step to Bruce’s right, Ace trotting along on obediently at Bruce’s heels on his left. Bruce led them down the hallway into his study, where he sat down on one of the couches. Wally sat next to him, waiting for what Bruce wanted to ask him.

“Wally, that nightmare- do you really not remember it?”

Wally slumped in his seat, staring at his lap, “No I really don’t. All I remember is waking up being scared.”

He looked up at Bruce suddenly, bright green eyes widening in fear, “Why? Is there something I should remember?”

Bruce studied the boy before shaking his head. He was starting to develop some theories about what was happening to Wally, but he wouldn’t voice them until he knew for sure.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

Wally wrung his hands together in his lap, and sighed.

“I feel like there _should_ be something I’m supposed to remember, but I dunno what it is. Like it’s something important,” the red-head explained.

“I’m sure it’ll come to you in time, Wally. Maybe it’s something you aren’t supposed to know yet. You are supposed to be an adult, remember?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Wally replied dejectedly. The two were quiet for a moment, the only sounds filling the room were Ace’s snores where he had fallen asleep on his bed next to Bruce’s desk.

“Hey Bruce,” Wally suddenly whispered.

“Hm?”

“You said that I- that…older me…he-I,” Wally huffed in irritation at having to refer to a different version of himself.

“You said I said our Earth’s are similar, but also different?” The speedster finally managed.

Bruce nodded.

“How?”

Bruce thought for a moment. Wally never really shared any details about his personal life on his Earth. He only ever told Bruce what Bruce absolutely needed to know, initially to get Bruce to believe and trust him, and later to help Bruce understand how Wally got to Bruce’s earth. He did, however, know that Wally had a laptop stashed in the Batcave containing information he knew about both Earths.

“Give me just a moment,” Bruce told Wally as he stood up and headed for the grandfather clock that stood a few feet away. Wally waited for Bruce on the couch while Bruce retrieved the laptop from the cave. When he returned a few minutes later, he opened the laptop before setting it in Wally’s lap.

“This has all the information Flash had about this Earth and yours,” Bruce explained. Wally’s eyes widened as he looked at the computer.

“Feel free to look through it,” Bruce sat down at his desk. “I have some work for Wayne Enterprises that I need to get done.”

Wally nodded a briefly glanced out the door, “Do you need me to go somewhere else?”

“Only if you want to.”

Wally chewed the inside of his cheek, thinking.

“Can I go to the library?” he asked shyly.

Bruce nodded at him, “Of course. Would you like me to walk you there?”

“No thank you, I got it.”

With that, he stood up, holding the laptop carefully in both hands and left Bruce to his papers. Bruce wasn’t sure how long he stayed in his study, only acknowledging the time briefly when Alfred set a tray of sandwiches and tea on the coffee table in the room for lunch. It was only when Ace darted out of the study as he heard Tim bounding up the stairs towards his room that Bruce realized he should probably go check on Wally.

Bruce was sure, as hyperactive as Wally was, he couldn’t have stayed in the library for long, but he figured that’s where he would check first, just in case. Sure enough, he found Wally curled up in one of the armchairs, laptop in his lap was dark. Wally had apparently fallen asleep at some point while scrolling through Flash’s notes.

Bruce was just heading towards the boy to wake him when Wally twitched and let out a small whimper. Bruce paused, waiting to see if Wally would wake up. He didn’t. Instead he mumbled something in his sleep. A name. It sounded like…Artemis? Bruce didn’t know who that was.

Wally muttered her name again, curling further in on himself. He mumbled something else that Bruce couldn’t make out. Then he let out a brief cry, jumping in his sleep and sending the laptop to the floor. Bruce decided he would now wake Wally up, and shook his shoulder gently.

Wally woke with a start, green eyes searching wildly. Bruce held him by the shoulders.

“Relax, Wally. You’re at Wayne Manor, remember?”

Wally stared at Bruce for a moment before nodding slowly.

“You had another nightmare,” Bruce told him. Wally blushed.

“I don’t remember it,” Wally spoke softly. “Again.”

Bruce squeezed his shoulder before dropping his hands, “You mentioned someone named Artemis. Does that name sound familiar to you?”

Wally furrowed his eyebrows together, thinking, “No. No I don’t know anyone named Artemis.”

Bruce hummed and filed that name away for later. His theory was starting to solidify itself.

“Come on,” Bruce picked up the laptop and placed it on a side table before turning to leave the library. “Tim got home a little bit ago, and Alfred will likely be starting dinner soon.”


End file.
